Age: 26 (can anyone confirm that?)

TV: Maria Watts in GRANGE HILL (BBC 1991-1994); Joanna in A TOUCH OF FROST (Yorkshire 1992); Dawn in BIRDS OF A FEATHER (BBC); Shelley Bates in THE BILL (Thames 1995); Judy Killick in THE BILL (Thames 1996); Kira in THIS LIFE (BBC 1996), Paula Davies in THE BILL (Thames 1997); Samantha in BIG BAD WORLD (1999); Lorna Rose in BAD GIRLS (Granada 1999); Lisa Fox in HOLBY CITY (BBC 2001)

FAMILY: Born in Ruislip, Middlesex, Luisa has a sister, Sasha. They used to fight all the time but they always stuck together.

HOBBIES: Like her mum, Luisa practises Buddhism which involves prayer and meditation. Not shaving your head as you might think! She says it sets her up for the day.

 
 
 

YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW... If she hadn't been an actress, Luisa could always have been a kitchen hand. When she got the part of Maria she washed dishes at a London restaurant - and carried on doing do despite being on TV! But Luisa always wanted to act - she started out in drama festivals at 12.

LOOKING BACK... Grange Hill was great fun, says Luisa. "I went in at 14 as a sort of glorified extra, with just a few lines and they wrote me in to the main cast", she told the Daily Mirror.

 

Information from "The Look" (The Mirror's TV magazine)